Actuating mechanism.



V. FRANK. AGTUATING MECHANISH. APPLICATION FILED 11211.26, 1910.

1,084,621 Patented Jan. 20,1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

mis

V. FRANK.

AGTUATING MEGHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 26, 1910.

Patented Jan. 20, 1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT oEEIcE.

vmom rmx, or carence, ILLINOIS, assrertoa ATo sHar'rLEss sPEEDoMETEE conm, or emesso, mamans,r a coureur-10N or scura nAxorA.

ac'rUaTINe nncHAN'Isn.

Speclcation of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan- 2o, "1914.

application-mea prix 2e, 1910. serial no'. 551,638.

lo speedometer or odometer, such as ordinarily fused upon automobiles and other vehicles.

The device, however, may be used in othery connections, being equally availablefor use a rotating member.

The particular nature of my lnvention and'k its objects wil-l moreffullv appear from the following description and` claim',l taken in,

connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 isa 'planjiewy of my device, to-

gether with the'adjacen't parts of' an auto mobile axle and steerin knuckle. -L' Fig. 2

is a side elevation of t e structure` shown" in'Fig. 1. F ig. 3 is an end elevation of the structure shown in Fig. 1. y 4 isv a secltional view of ajpneumatic p sator, forming part ofmy device. "Fig, 5 is'a plan view from beneath, with the lower part of the' C881 removed. Fig. 6 is a view similar to F1 4,"showing a modification.' Fig. 7 isfa-p an view from beneath. of the modi 'ca' tion shown in Fig. 6, the lower casing member being removed.

I have illustrated my. device applied to an automobile. As ordinarily lconstructed a circular boss 1 4extel'ldsinwardly from the hub 2 of an automobile frontl wheel. Upon the surface ofthe bossrll mount a cam mam ber ha anfoutwa y projecting arm slottedvaliltg4 to pass over the stem and beneath the head of one of the'bolts 5- which hold the hub lates of the wheel together. The cam memlber also comprises an Inwardly extending arm 6, the inner face of which lies against the boss 1. The outer face of the arm 6 is curved outwardly .to form a' cam projection upon the surface of the My improved mechanism is actuated by the ment of the cam surface 6 during the rotation-of the wheel with the coperating arts of the device. Mounted upon the knu e 7 is an upright member 8, the lower screw threaded ends 10 of the U- the sleeve member.

'end of .which is slotted at 9 to receive the ends of the' U-shaped clip 10, the central part of which is flattened at 11 and passed around the knuckle 7 Nuts 12 en aging the aped clip serve to draw the same tightly around the knuckle and hold the upright member 8 seeulel in position. At its upper end the mem r 8 1s provided Iwith a screw threaded aperture 13, the outer end of which is surrounded by a conical boss 14. A sleeve member 15 is provided with a c lindrical aperture 16, and the sleeve is sp it, as indicated at. 17 in'order that the sleeve may be drawn -into bindingengagement with an L-shaped arm 18. A screw hole 19 asses through the sleeve member 15 registerin with the conical recess in the sleeve mem r which overlies the lconical boss 14. It' will be apparent that by turning the screw 2() into theaper' fture 13, the member 15 will be held securely in lplaceupon thearm 8 and that the arm 18 wi be secured inl itsadjusted position in The arm 18 is constructed withv a right-angular bend, and a v`trame member 21 is sleeved over the outer 'aperture cut away at 22 to form a split rin A machine screw 23 serves to hold the split 'ringtightly upon the member 18. Pivoted -to' the' lower end of the frame member 21 is` an 'actuating arm 24 which carries a rotatable roller 25,- the roller preferabl be- -ing provided with a -rubber or other e astic.

tire 26.v The disposition of the parts is.such that the tire 26 of the roller 25 bears upon the periphery of the boss 1 in such manner as to be engaged by its cam surface 2.upon each revolution of the wheel.

\ A pneumatic ulsator 27 is secured to the` upper endwof e frame 21, preferably by screw threading the stem 28 thereof, throu h said frame member in such manner that t e stem 28, which is formed for connection with a rubber tube, will project above the same. The preferred form of pulsator, as illustrated in Fig. 4, comprises a casing having an up er member 27 and a lower member 28', t e two members being threaded together, as indicated at 29. The upwardly projectlng stem 28 is preferably screw threaded, as indicated at 30, for connection with the frame 21 as above described, and an aperture 31 extending mechanism to which the device is connectedl by means of a rubber hose or other pipe. A .diaphragm 32, formed of leather or other yielding material, is clamped at its edges between the members 27 and 28 of the casing, andl is normally held in depressed position by means of a spring 33 preferably taking the form of a spiderl having a central part 34 from which radiate arms 35. The spring 33 is formed so that the radial arms 35 normally lie at an angle to the plane of the central part 34, and when the device is assembled as illustrated in Fig. 4, the radial arms bear against-the inner surface of the upper casing member 27J and the central pall? of the spring bears against the center of the diaphra 32, tending to hold the center of the diaphragm depressed. At its outer surface the lower casing member 28 is provided with al projecting boss 36, and a plunger 37 extends through an aperture in this boss to the interior of the casing. Upon its inner end the plunger 37 is preferably provided with an enlarged head 38 adapted toengage the under surface of the diaphragm 32. The length of the plunger 37 is such that when the diaphragm 32 is depressed by the tension ofthe spring 33, the lower'end of the plunger 37 extends beyond the boss 36. The parts are shown in their normal position in Fig. 4.

The pivoted arm 24 at its free end lies just beneath the plunger 37, as shown in Fig. 2, the parts being so arranged and proportioned that when the tire 26 of the roller 25 rests upon the cylindrical part of the boss 1 the arm 24 will just clear the plunger 37 and permit the spring 33 to depress the diaphragm 32. On each rotation of the wheel however, the cam projection 6 raises the arm 24, and this in turn raises the plunger 3 7 and elevates the diaphragm 32, thus compressing the air above the diaphragm. As soon as the cam 6 passes beyond the roller 25, the spring 33 depresses the dia hragm, thus permittingthe air confined a ve 1t to assume its normal tension,

air, to sli htly rarefy the air above the diaphragm or a moment. It will be understood that the nipple 28 of the pulsator is connected byl a rubber tube or other pipe with some form of mechanism, such as that illustrated in my pending application Serial No. 455,249, tiled September 29, 1908, such mechanism being actuated by a series of pulsations, or intermittent increases in pressure in the air coniined above the diaphragm.

In Fig. 6 I have illustrated a modification of the pulsator in which the diaphragm 32 is held normally in a depressed osition by means of a helical spring 40, w ich at one end engages a shoulder 41 in the bore of the nipple 28 and at the other end engages a plate 42, which bears against the central part of the diaphragm. The operation of this device will be the same as that above described.

In practice I have found that the apparatus herein shown and described is practically noiseless in operation and that it produces a series of distinct pulsations which insure a positive and accurate operation of the connected mechanism.

While I have described and shown a specific embodiment of my invention, it will be readily understood that the rinciple thereof may be applied without ad ering to the precise form of mechanism upon which this description of my invention is based.

I claim:

A pulsator comprising a casing, an elastic diaphragm dividing said casing into two chambers, a spider spring comprising a central part and radial arms, the central part engaging said diaphragm and the arms engaging the casing, and a plunger at one end engaging said diaphragm and at the other end extending to the exterior of said casing.

In testimony whereof, I have subscribed my name.

VINCENT FRANK.

Witnesses WALTER A. SCOTT, HENRY A. PARKS.

and in the event of the escape of any of the 

